real_illusions

i still have ie6 here...hate ie7 and microsoft with a passion..so i use firefox :)There is a white bg because the bg image is white. Right click in the text and view background image.Have you a screenshot of the grey bits in ie7 and opera??

a quick search on google comes up with:http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/websafefonts.htmlhttp://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.htmlhttp://www.web2market.com/tutorials/font_tutorial/hope that helps:)

worry? no..you should panic widly, sell everything, buy a trip to the moon and watch mankind destroy itself over a small light grey background on a website :)But it looks the same in both ie and firefox here...

styling the <hr /> tag doesn't really validate in xhtml...if you want a fancy colourful line, then stick an image in there, and style the margins and paddings in css to create the spacing and such that you're after.

thanks :)Regarding images and such, just practise, do a search for "photoshop tutorials", you'll come up with some cool stuff. Go through any tutorials you like, and see what you can do, experiment with things. Thats how i've learnt almost everything to do with web design and images.I suppose you could try to copy some stuff you've seen in like Command & Conquer, Age of Empires etc.. See if you can create similiar effects to what they did, and maybe change a few things, make it different, put your kinda style on things.

you can password certain folders on your site using the .htaccess file.Do a search on '.htaccess passwords' on google and you should find a few gazillion results. It doesn't require a database and is relatively easy to set up, plus you can add in as many users as you want (as far as i'm aware of).

there is a way you can 'force' the user to temporary download the font to their cache. I cant remember how you do this, but i THINK its javascript. I've seen it been asked before on this forum, so do a quick search for it.The other way, is to provide alternate fonts to the one you thing looks best.As for normal fonts. CSS is the best way and the tutorial can be found by clicking on this linky here - http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_font.asp

if you want mutiple passes for users and such, you need a database (mysql usually) and php (a server side scripting language).If your confident no-one will be able to hack into your database via sql injections or anything else, then go ahead and code it yourself. But, since it doesn't look like you can (otherwise you wont be asking the question)...then have a quick search ofr "user login scripts" on google, you should find a few gazillion results. However, finding the right one can be tricky. As they're all different to setup, some have millions of files, others have a few, some require databaes, some dont.However, a secure database driven user login script is usually the best way to go.

regarding the imageThey use a mixture of a background image, which is the bit that 'stretches'. Its a repeated pattern thats a background behind the other images you see. They are in seperate table row thingy's.It looks like they use that program i cant remember the name of..its related to ipb forum software. Speaking of which, their forum is horrible. They haven;t touched on the colours and stuff at all. MKportal, thats the one! Looks like they've used that to create the website.The following code is how they do the 'stretchy' image. <table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="background-image: url(/system/design/img/top_pic_bg.jpg); background-position: top; background-repeat: repeat-x;"> <tr> <td width="306" rowspan="2"><img src="/system/design/img/top_pic1.jpg" width="308" height="135" alt="" border="0"></td> <td valign="top"width="89"><img src="/system/design/img/top_pic2.jpg" width="342" height="105" alt="" border="0"></td> <td width="100%" align="right" valign="top"><img src="/system/design/img/top_pic3.jpg" width="90" height="105" alt="Free MMORPG" border="0"></td> </tr>

i get this - #1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '% mysqladmin --user=root --password=password create time% mysql --user=root --' at line 1 I have a server set up on my computer using wampserver, as recommended by another tech head i know, so i can practise php and such here without uploading it anywhere.I'm trying to create a simple user login feature. But, since i get this error, i cant really do much....Any ideas?

whichever you choose, stick with it, dont change between several. It'll be easier to edit if you stick with one kinda size measurement thingy, so, everything is in relation to everything else you do on the site.

i have to agree with skemcin and aspnetguy.Your code is messy and very very old school. The menu is hardly see-able etc etc..And the comment line that aspnetguy has pointed makes me think you stole the design from that very similiar site using a program.

i was looking at some php books in amazon, just wondered which ones you recommend?http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/0672326728/...3595925-0963667http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/1590595521/...3595925-0963667http://www.amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/0975240218/...3595925-0963667or any others that are on amazon and i haven't linked to.I have a couple of CSS books that are really good, so, i'd thought i'd go for a php book or 2 as well.

have you got any code for us to look at?

links is one of the main ways.But, the links have to be from relevant sites, with high search engine rankings.Best way is, search for the term you want your page to be highly ranked on, go to the sites that comes up on the first few pages of that search and ask for a link. Pretty much all will ask for a link back.

it uses javascript for the expandable menu thing.Have you got that file?

huh? in what way is it bigger than the screen on the screen that the page is on the screen?? can we have that in english? :)Have you got some code that we can look at to see if your doing anything wrong?

you'll just have to wait till they update their cache of the screenshot of your site. Nothing much you can do about it.

and that reason is?you have head tags, stick the css in there. or put the style into the p tags.

you wont be able to move the text slightly to the left or the right without cssyou need to use the padding css attributep{padding-left:10px;}to move any <p> tags 10 pixels away from the left.

its a bit better..but..the overall colour scheme is horrible..also, looks like you spent about 10 seconds doing the menu, rather than looking like it took 10 hours like all good menus should (well..maybe not 10 hours..but at least look like some effort went into it) :)plus, best get a php or asp contact form rather than a mailto email link. much less spam that way.

like all CSS, its worth knowing about as it opens up new avenues and you never know when one attribute can save your day when nothing else works, and you just happen to know about this one tag, but never used to it, and all of a sudden your website springs to life!so..in a word (or 5) - yes, learn about css margins.:)as for your other question..i think i know where it starts and ends but i dont know, as i cant understand what your asking..

maybe this will helphttp://www.cakephp.org

the text-align:center attribute is what you need for centering text in a part of a page or the whole page.Have you got the page somewhere to show us what you have or some code?

to start..<em> is not a valid tag anymore that i'm aware of..There are a few ways to do what you want.The best way, is a background image..then place your links in the normal way.invisible links are likely to get your site banned from search engines, as its classed as cloaking (i think). bots should read what people see. Anyway, if your links are invisible..how are people supposed to see them to click them?And why have you got classes for each link? Theres much better ways using CSS to space them apart, with less code and thats much easier to control too.